Alien Registration- Dunphy, Boardman F. (Island Falls, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/34881/thumbnail.jp

Isolation-rearing from weaning to investigate depressive-like behaviour in the rat

Depression is a heterogeneous condition characterised by low mood and a lack of motivation and enjoyment of regular activities. The response rate to current treatments coupled with adverse side effect profiles requires new avenues of investigation into the development of novel therapeutics to treat the condition. Rearing rats in isolation from weaning causes behavioural, cognitive and neurochemical changes which persist into adulthood; some of the symptoms produced have relevance to depression. In the current thesis, rats raised in social isolation from weaning consistently developed a hyperactive phenotype compared to group-housed littermates when placed into a novel environment. They also developed deficits in associative learning assessed by the conditioned fear response task. They displayed some anxiety-like behaviours in the open field and novelty-suppressed feeding task and deficits in visual memory in the novel object discrimination task, although these were not reliable across cohorts. There was a reduction in levels of hippocampal neurogenesis in a number of cohorts and for the first time it was demonstrated that rats reared in isolation exhibited changes in gut bacteria, opening up a potential new avenue of investigation into potential treatments. The efficacy of novel versus established antidepressant treatments was evaluated in isolated rats. Chronic fluoxetine had some anxiolytic effects in the open field, attenuated isolation induced changes in associative memory and increased neurogenesis but also had inconsistent effects on activity. Treatment with acute ketamine increased freezing time in the conditioned freezing response task, indicating an improvement in associative memory. The final study examined, for the first time, the effect of treatment with the JNK-1 inhibitor DJNKI in isolation reared rats. DJNKI had some positive cognitive effects in both the novel object discrimination task and the conditioned freezing response task. In conclusion, the isolation rearing model induced varying levels of depression-like deficits, which were responsive to some treatments. The model is a useful tool for investigating the symptoms of depression and evaluating novel treatment options

Feasibility randomised controlled trial comparing TRAK-ACL digital rehabilitation intervention plus treatment as usual versus treatment as usual for patients following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of trialling taxonomy for the rehabilitation of knee conditions-ACL (TRAK-ACL), a digital health intervention that provides health information, personalised exercise plans and remote clinical support combined with treatment as usual (TAU), for people following ACL reconstruction. Methods: The study design was a two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial (RCT). Eligible participants were English-speaking adults who had undergone ACL reconstruction within the last 12 weeks, had access to the internet and could provide informed consent. Recruitment took place at three sites in the UK. TRAK-ACL intervention was an interactive website informed by behaviour change technique combined with TAU. The comparator was TAU. Outcomes were: recruitment and retention; completeness of outcome measures at follow-up; fidelity of intervention delivery and engagement with the intervention. Individuals were randomised using a computer-generated random number sequence. Blinded assessors allocated groups and collected outcome measures. Results: Fifty-nine people were assessed for eligibility at two of the participating sites, and 51 were randomised; 26 were allocated to TRAK-ACL and 25 to TAU. Follow-up data were collected on 44 and 40 participants at 3 and 6 months, respectively. All outcome measures were completed fully at 6 months except the Client Service Receipt Inventory. Two patients in each arm did not receive the treatment they were randomised to. Engagement with TRAK-ACL intervention was a median of 5 logins (IQR 3-13 logins), over 18 weeks (SD 12.2 weeks). Conclusion: TRAK-ACL would be suitable for evaluation of effectiveness in a fully powered RCT

ASSESSING AND REDUCING SOYBEAN CROP LOSSES FROM DEER: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY, MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT

Damage from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has become a common complaint of soybean (Glycine max) producers in many areas of the Southeast. Both short- and long-term, single-field and community-wide solutions to this problem are needed. This paper describes a multi-agency, multi-state effort, involving agronomists, wildlife biologists, producers, and other landowners, to assess soybean losses from deer and to evaluate potential solutions. One phase of this work, which is supported by soybean producer checkoff funds, involves evaluating agronomic practices for reducing crop losses. These include drilled (rather than wide-row) plantings and use of insect-resistant or dense-pubescent cultivars (varieties) which may deter browsing, especially where deer pressure is light to moderate. Evaluations of these practices, in comparison with conventional ones, are being conducted in producer’s fields in SC, NC, and VA. The other phase of this work is a cooperative project involving Clemson University, the SC Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, soybean producers and’ other landowners in a 7500-acre tract in Hampton and Jasper Cos., SC. The deer population in this tract will be monitored and reduced over a 3-year period, and the resulting effects on soybean crop losses and herd quality will be assessed

ASSESSING AND REDUCING SOYBEAN CROP LOSSES FROM DEER: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY, MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT

Damage from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has become a common complaint of soybean (Glycine max) producers in many areas of the Southeast. Both short- and long-term, single-field and community-wide solutions to this problem are needed. This paper describes a multi-agency, multi-state effort, involving agronomists, wildlife biologists, producers, and other landowners, to assess soybean losses from deer and to evaluate potential solutions. One phase of this work, which is supported by soybean producer checkoff funds, involves evaluating agronomic practices for reducing crop losses. These include drilled (rather than wide-row) plantings and use of insect-resistant or dense-pubescent cultivars (varieties) which may deter browsing, especially where deer pressure is light to moderate. Evaluations of these practices, in comparison with conventional ones, are being conducted in producer’s fields in SC, NC, and VA. The other phase of this work is a cooperative project involving Clemson University, the SC Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, soybean producers and’ other landowners in a 7500-acre tract in Hampton and Jasper Cos., SC. The deer population in this tract will be monitored and reduced over a 3-year period, and the resulting effects on soybean crop losses and herd quality will be assessed

Six Years of Teaching Human Bioscience, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology: A Journey of Reflective Practice

Science classes for health science degrees are some of the most challenging any lecturer will undertake. In many institutions they act as the ‘gate-keeper’ subjects for the degrees they serve and are often deemed the reasons for high attrition and fail rates. This paper focuses on a suite of four biomedical science courses that run over the first two years of various healthcare degrees at Charles Sturt University. The majority of our regional students are enrolled in nursing or paramedic undergraduate degrees and have entered through non-traditional pathways. Students study these courses either internally on campus or via distance education with many moving between modes of delivery. In an attempt to improve student performance we set out to realign the course content and assessments of these key subjects using Bloom’s taxonomy. A review is presented of the teaching teams’ experiences and responses to the challenges in teaching human bioscience, pathophysiology and pharmacology. The review considers the data generated over 12 semesters of teaching between 2007 and 2012 inclusive and assesses the impact of the content realignment. It includes the trends in student subject evaluations and historical data relating to student success, attrition and failure. Although student opinion towards these subjects has in general improved, the review highlighted problems associated with analysis of trends over time when centralised raw data is unavailable. Despite this limitation, it has enabled the team to identify where future efforts need to be directed; the student transition from level 1 to level 2

Mapping Children's Discussions of Evidence in Science to Assess Collaboration and Argumentation

The research reported in this paper concerns the development of children's skills of interpreting and evaluating evidence in science. Previous studies have shown that school teaching often places limited emphasis on the development of these skills, which are necessary for children to engage in scientific debate and decision-making. The research, undertaken in the UK, involved four collaborative decision-making activities to stimulate group discussion, each was carried out with five groups of four children (10-11 years old). The research shows how the children evaluated evidence for possible choices and judged whether their evidence was sufficient to support a particular conclusion or the rejection of alternative conclusions. A mapping technique was developed to analyse the discussions and identify different "levels" of argumentation. The authors conclude that suitable collaborative activities that focus on the discussion of evidence can be developed to exercise children's ability to argue effectively in making decisions

Understandings of sustainable corporate governance by Australian managed investment schemes and some implications for small-scale forestry in Australia

This study reveals that managers of Australian managed investment schemes understand sustainable corporate governance as a mix of financial, natural environment and social outcomes. The managers that were interviewed prioritized financial aspects of business performance but acknowledged that sustained financial performance was only possible if positive natural environment outcomes and positive social outcomes were also sustained. In this context, the managers expressed qualified support for the development of small-scale forestry in Australia

Effects of temperature and salinity stress on DNA methylation in a highly invasive marine invertebrate, the colonial ascidian Didemnum vexillum

Environmentally induced epigenetic changes may contribute to phenotypic plasticity, increase adaptive potential in changing environments, and play a key role in the establishment and spread of invasive species in new habitats. In this study, we used methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) to assess environmentally induced DNA methylation changes in a globally invasive clonal ascidian, Didemnum vexillum. We tested the effect of increasing temperature (19, 25 and 27 °C) and decreasing salinity (34, 32, 30, 28 and 26 practical salinity units (PSU)) on global DNA methylation, growth and survival rates. Exposure to 27 °C resulted in significant changes in DNA methylation over time. Growth also decreased in colonies exposed to high temperatures, suggesting they were under thermal stress. In contrast, no differences in growth nor DNA methylation patterns were observed in colonies exposed to a decreasing salinity gradient, potentially due to prior adaptation. The results of this study show that environmental stress can induce significant global DNA methylation changes in an invasive marine invertebrate on very rapid timescales, and that this response varies depending on the type, magnitude, and duration of the stressor. Changes in genomic DNA methylation and the rate of growth may act to ‘buy survival time’ under stressful conditions, expanding the distribution limits of this globally invasive species

The Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 complex mediates activation of TopBP1 by ATM

The activation of ATR-ATRIP in response to double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) depends upon ATM in human cells and Xenopus egg extracts. One important aspect of this dependency involves regulation of TopBP1 by ATM. In Xenopus egg extracts, ATM associates with TopBP1 and thereupon phosphorylates it on S1131. This phosphorylation enhances the capacity of TopBP1 to activate the ATR-ATRIP complex. We show that TopBP1 also interacts with the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex in egg extracts in a checkpoint-regulated manner. This interaction involves the Nbs1 subunit of the complex. ATM can no longer interact with TopBP1 in Nbs1-depleted egg extracts, which suggests that the MRN complex helps to bridge ATM and TopBP1 together. The association between TopBP1 and Nbs1 involves the first pair of BRCT repeats in TopBP1. In addition, the two tandem BRCT repeats of Nbs1 are required for this binding. Functional studies with mutated forms of TopBP1 and Nbs1 suggested that the BRCT-dependent association of these proteins is critical for a normal checkpoint response to DSBs. These findings suggest that the MRN complex is a crucial mediator in the process whereby ATM promotes the TopBP1-dependent activation of ATR-ATRIP in response to DSBs